Prescott councillor wants fewer councillors

PRESCOTT – Town Councillor Gauri Shankar thinks the town has too many councillors.

The rookie councillor, who topped the polls in the fall election, wants to see the rules changed to have two fewer councillors elected in 2022.

Shankar said that seven council members – the mayor and six councillors – are too many to govern this town of 4,400 residents.

A slimmed-down council of five politicians would be more efficient and the leaner council would fall in line with the provincial government’s preference for small municipal councils, said Shankar, pointing to the Ford government’s decision to reduce Toronto city council to 25 members from 47.

Better that Prescott do the downsizing on its own before the province orders it done, Shankar said.

Shankar said that he made the smaller-council issue part of his election platform and most residents seemed to agree, particularly when he pointed out that Brockville now has nine council members compared with Prescott’s seven.

And Brockville is more than four times the size of Prescott, he added.

Even Brockville’s council is considered too large by one Brockville councillor. Leigh Bursey wants city council reduced to seven – which would make it the same size as Prescott’s current council.

Shankar said the reduction in the size of council would save some money, although not a lot given the stipend paid to councillors.

He has asked clerk Kimberly Casselman for a report on how council could reduce its numbers.

Shankar said public hearings would have to be held to get input from residents and that the process should be started soon to have it in place in time for the 2022 municipal election.